Sidewalk Coffee Stand

As its name states, Sidewalk Coffee Stand is a tiny corner café off the Meguro River in Nakameguro, with coffees and baked goods – and four sandwiches, which are optimal for collabing with a friend. Occasionally new sandwiches or seasonal specials arise. Our favourite here was the DTC sandwich; not to be confused with direct-to-consumer, the abbreviation stands for (sun-)dried tomatoes and chicken.

It offers a beautiful balance of freshness from the basil, stretchy mozzarella and umami-dense tomato sauce, all between crispy sourdough bread generously buttered on each side. There’s no real place to eat inside, so this is a take-it-to-the-park kind of sandwich.

Make sure to combine yours with coffee, as Sidewalk Coffee’s brews deserve to be named among Tokyo’s elite. They roast their beans at their Shimokitazawa location, with the Nakameguro café offering a wide range of espresso-based drinks – from a textbook punchy Americano to an ever-popular orange mocha.